WASHINGTON — Hundreds of business groups, including major automakers, signed on to a letter led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Monday urging Congress to reduce bottlenecks for companies starting energy and infrastructure projects.
So-called permitting reform is one of the few policy areas in which Republicans and Democrats agree change is necessary, given the 4.5 to 7.5-year timeline for new projects to receive federal permits and the increasing mineral demands of the clean energy economy. However, the two parties rarely agree on which policy to pass to fix the issue.
The Chamber's letter comes as the U.S. House prepares this week to take up a Republican-led energy package that would include some such reforms, including provisions that would shorten timelines for environmental reviews and limit the window for legal challenges to permitting decisions.
